Ronwin retorted by pointing out: He wrote to Pauling and directed him to a paper published by chemist Ludwig Anschütz in 1927, in which the latter suggested that phosphorus connected to five oxygen atoms in some structures.

Pauling and Schomaker had to withdraw: Pauling and Schomaker 1952b.

Pauling heard that Maurice Wilkins: Biochemist Gerald Oster wrote to Pauling about it on August 9, 1951. Oster interpreted Wilkins’s delay in publishing the images as a lack of interest on his part, but Wilkins was, in fact, working toward confirming the results with better tools.

Three separate events, all happening in 1951: Although there are, of course, many accounts of the discovery of the structure of DNA, the autobiographical ones remain of special value, controversies notwithstanding. Watson 1980 (Norton Critical Edition) is particularly recommended. It includes, in addition to Watson’s original (and controversial) text, an excellent selection of reviews and analyses. Also highly recommended are Crick 1988 and Wilkins 2003. Unfortunately, Rosalind Franklin did not live long enough to write her own autobiography, but two biographies—Sayre 1975 and Maddox 2002—fill that gap beautifully. Most recently, Franklin’s sister, Jenifer Glynn, has written a wonderful memoir (Glynn 2012). Another interesting perspective on Franklin’s experiences as a woman in a male-dominated lab is Des Jardins 2010, pp. 180–95.

“molecular work on DNA in England”: Watson 1980, p. 13.